Imprint-transfer mechanism



.July 14, 1931. A. HORMEL IMPRINT TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Sept. 19, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jul 14, 1931.

A HORMEL IMPRINT TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed Sept. 19. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 14040.97 Aha/v54 ATTORNEY BY l Patented July 14, 1931 units srrss AUGUST HORMEL, OF HUDSON HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES WAGNER IMPRINT-TRANSFER MECHANISM Application fil ed September 19,1929. Serial No. 393,667.

This invention relates to improvements in imprint-transfer mechanism.

It is desirable to transfer imprints from the soft composition blanketcylinder to an offset press to rolls or rollers of hard material so as to enable such hard rolls to be used for etching or printing or the like, but owing to the soft, elastic character of the composition formingsuch blanket, it has heretofore been difiicult, if not impossible, to;transfer an imprint therefrom to a'roller composed of afaced roller, and it is one of the objects of this invention to avoid this distortion of the imprint in such imprint-transfers between such soft, elastic material and a hard surfaced roller. V v

Another object of this invention is to produce a transfer mechanism by modifying theconventional cylinder of an offset print'press so as to enable an imprint from suchcylinder to be transferred to a roller of hard material such a s-copper, nickel, steel or stone and to enable such imprint to be obtained on the hard roller accurately and without distortion thereof. I

Still another object of my invention is to enable a single offset cylinder to beutilized with blankets and hard rollers of varying widths.

Still another object of my-invention is to f provide onanofl set cylinder apair of spac} ing tracks or rails by the use of which the hard roller will be positively spaced a predetermined distance from the surface of the offset cylinder and will thus enable the two surfaces to be rotated relatively in such properly-spaced relationship as to compensate for the thickness of the blanket and to enable transfer from the blanket of imprints to such hard roller irrespective, of: any inaccuracies in the cylinder or roller.

Still another object of my invention is to provide means whereby these compensating tracks or rails may be readilyiand quickly 7 applied to or removed from the cylinder and also to provide means whereby the position on the cylinder of the rails may be quickly ad usted to accommodate blankets and rollers of varying widths.

bers and arrangement of parts so combined as to co-act and cooperate with each other in the performance of the functionsand the accomplishment of the results'hereincontemplated, andvcomprises in one of its adaptations the species or preferred form illustrataccompanying drawings, in

ed in o the which Fig. l is a fragmentary view, partly in sec-, i

tion and partly in side elevation, of a trans fer mechanism embody ng myinvention and ofiset cylinder being shown in contact with the bed of the press to receive a impression or nnprlnt therefrom;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l of the transfer mechanism showing the olfset cylinder raised into contact with the hard roller for the purpose of transferring the imprint theret0; o I

F1g. 3 1s an enlarged view, in plan, of the bearings o v Fig. 4: is a still further enlarged section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrow; I p Fig, 51s a fragmentary section on the line 55 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the.

arrow; 1

Fig. 6 1s a perspective view of one of the tracks, rails or bands and the ad]usting and With these and other objects in View, the invention comprises the combinatlon of memapplied to a conventional offset press, the

hard and offset rollers in operative relation- Sl11p to each other but dismounted from their cylinder 6 having journals 7 mounted in bearing blocks 8 movable vertically in ways 9 by means of screw shafts 10 threaded through yokes 11 and rotatable through arms 12 which are connected together by a connecting rod 13, a hand lever 14 being, as shown, connected to one of the arms 12.

The cylinder 6 is also provided with gears 15 at opposite sides which mesh with the racks 3 to enable the cylinder to be rotated over the bed of the press by the rotation of pinions 16 meshing with the gears 15, these pinions being, as shown, mounted on a shaft 17.jour-- nalled in suitable bearings in the bearing brackets 4. These pinions are rotated by means of a crank arm 18 to cause a movement of the carriage tjalong the bed of the press ofthe cylinder 6 over and in contact with'the same for the purpose of obtaining an iniprihton the said cylinder, which is pro- 'vide d withthe us ual blanket 19 having the conventional soft and elastic surfacing material on which, of course, an imprint is ob-' tained from'a stone, type or other inked surface on the bed of the press.

55 I-Iavingthus obtained the imprint on such soft and elastic composition, it is desirable to transferthe iinpression' from this soft and elastic printing surface to a roller 25 of hard so material, as for example, to an etching roller F of copper or" other suitable material and it has heretofore been found difficult, if not entirely impossible, to procure an accurate im print or transfer from this soft material on p the cylinder tofa roller composed of hard ma- "*"terial because it isapparentthat any ineqifality of pressure or any change of the distance-between the two rollers will, in View of the soft and elastic character of the blanket on the offsetcylinder, cause the transferred im rint to be distorted.

y the use 'ofmyinvention, I have overcome this'difiiculty by providing a air of tracks or rails, one of which is applie to the roller on each side of the offset blanket and these rails o'r'tracksare, in the preferred form ofinv'ention'finthe form of bands 20 of a thicknessadapted accurately to compensate forthe thickness of the blanket and its print- 5q ing'composition,'an'd equalizing the amount ofpressure that may be applied on such softprinting composition or surfacing material. In: the 'preferred form of 'my invention, the bands 20 are provided with means for adjust ably securing the same on the cylinder so as to *"enablesuch bands to be spaced varying dist-afinces' apart and thus to enable printing blankets and hard rollers of varying widths to'be u'sed'with' a single cylinder. To this to end, each of the "bands 20 comprise a rollerencircling portion 20 and fastening arm 20 adapted to fit into blanket-fastening grooves 6 ofthe'cylinder 6.

In the preferred embodimentof my invene5 tion,' th'ese arms 20 are fastened by screws 21 to a block 22 slidable along rods 23 each of which are adjustably mounted by bolts 24 screwed into tapped holes 24 in the bottom wall 6 of the grooves 6 of the cylinder 6. Obviously, the rail or track bands 20 will be thus adj ustably mounted on the cylinder so as to permit considerable variation of'the distance between the two rails and consequent- 1y to enable a variation in the widths of the blankets and hard rollers with which these bands may cooperate.

Adjustment of the bands may be accomplished by a mere loosening of the bolts 24 whereupon the blocks 22 and bands secured thereto may bemove'd along the rods 23 to H0 any suitable position whereupon a screwing down of the bolts 24 will secure the bands in the adjusted position to which they have been moved."

It will be obvious that when these bands are properly spaced from each other,they will form rails along which thehard surfaced roller may roll and also that if these bandsv v are of the proper thickness to compensate for the thickness of the blanket and its printing composition, the hard surfaced roller may be rotated about the surface of the cylinder in' such properly spaced relationship thereto as to provide the proper amount of pressure nee essary to procure a good transfer and without 95 7 any excessive pressure which might cause "a: depression, flattening or creeping of the soft material and a consequent distortion of the l imprint transferred.

As shown, I provide conventional means for connecting the blanket to the offset cylin der and, as illustrated, the opposite ends 19' of the blanket are rolled around'and secured to fastening rods 19* which are mounted in the groove 6. 5

The roller 25 is rotatably mounted or journalled'in blocks 26' slidable in'ways 27 and movable by screws 28 threaded through yokes 29 and operable by a hand-wheel 30;

In the preferred form of my invention il- 11o lustrated, the cylinder 6 after obtaining 'itsj imprint by a movement over the bed of the I press is raised by'means' of the hand-lever 14 to elevate the same so that the gears carried thereby will be out of contact with the racks 3 and the surface oft-he blanket will be caused to contact withthe hard surfaced roller 25. lVhen this contact is established, the pin ions 16 will still be in mesh with the gears 15 carried by the cylinder and rotation of the i crank arm'18 will causel'thejcylinder to be rotated in contact with the roller 25 and? the imprint to be transferred thereto. 'From the above it will be seen that I utilize a single gearing for alternately moving the cylinder over the bed of the press to pro cure the imprinton the blanket and for rotating the cylinder in contact with the roller I 25 to transfer the imprint from: the cylinder thereto.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. Imprint-transfer mechanism embodying, in combination, a cylinder mounted to rotate, a pair of rails mounted on said cylinder in adjustable relationship to each other, one member of each pair being arranged on each side of the middle portion of the roller, a blanket having a soft printing composition mounted on said cylinder between said rails, and a transfer roller of hard material mounted to rotate adjacent to said cylinder and to contact upon rotation with said rails and with the surface of said blanket, said rails having a thickness adapted to compensate for the thickness of the blanket and to equaliz'e the pressure of said roller on the surface thereof.

2. Imprint-transfer mechanism embodying, in combination, a cylinder mounted to rotate, a blanket having a relatively soft printing composition mounted on said cylinder, a pair of slidable blocks mounted on the cylinder, rails mounted on said blocks, one member of each pair being arranged on each side of the blanket, and a transfer roller of hard material mounted to rotate adjacent to said cylinder and to contact upon rotation with said rails, said rails having a thickness adapted to compensate for thethickness of the blanket and to equalize the pressure of said roller on the surface thereof.

3. Imprint-transfer mechanism embodying, in combination, a cylinder mounted to rotate, a blanket mounted on said cylinder having a printing surface composed of relatively soft printing composition, said cylin- 5. Imprint-transfer mechanism embodying, in combination, a press having a flat bed, a carriage movable along said bed and provided with mounting brackets, a cylinder mounted in said brackets, a transfer roller 7 AUGUST HORMEL.

der having a conventional blanket-fastening j groove, blanket-fastening rods mounted in said groove, a pair of rail-mounting rods mounted in said groove between said blanket-fastening rods, a pair of blocks slidably mounted on said rods, a pair of track bands mounted on said blocks, one member of each pair of track bands being arranged at each side of the blanket, and a transfer'roller of hard material mounted to rotate adjacent to said cylinder and to contact upon rotation with said rails, said track bands having a thickness adapted to compensate for the thickness of the blanket and to equalize the pressure of said roller on the surface thereof.

4. Imprint-transfer mechanism embodying, in combination, a press having a flat bed, a carriage movable along said bed and provided with mounting brackets, a cylinder mounted in said brackets, a transfer roller also mounted in said brackets above said cylinder, and means for alternately moving said cylinder from a position in contact with the bed of the press and out of contact with said transfer roller to a position in contact with the transfer roller and out of contact with the bed of the press. 

